08.31.07

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

When troubles start to beset us from all sides, it so easy to forget that nothing is too hard for God. Our faith disappears so quickly and we start to have doubts about everything.
This Bible passage shows us that even when our faith fails us and we start to “sink”, God is always there to reach out His hand to us and pull us out of the water.
As troubles come at you, remember to quiet your mind and turn to the Lord in prayer. Although the answer you get may not be the one you are expecting, God will “lift you out of the water”.

“I believe that this representation of Jesus reaching out to a doubting Peter, also symbolizes Jesus reaching out to all who are sinking in a sea of sin.”
-Doug Westbrook, Artist of “Jesus Walks on Water” – A Bible Story Mural.

See Mr. Westbrook’s Bible Story Murals here.
If your church is looking for a unique way to bring the Word of God to it’s children and young people, take a look at Doug Westbrook’s Bible Story Murals. Each wall sized mural is based on the hand painted originals Mr. Westbrook created at Central Baptist Church in Houston, Texas and represents a different well known Bible story.
They are available on durable vinyl wallpaper for easy installation.

Brent Bozell, President of the Media Research Center which runs NewsBusters, appeared Thursday night (August 30) on FNC’s Hannity & Colmes to discuss the MRC’s study, “Rise and Shine on Democrats: How the ABC, CBS and NBC Morning Shows Are Promoting Democrats on the Road to the White House” (Executive Summary). It found that, from January through July, the ABC, CBS and NBC morning shows devoted nearly twice the time to stories about, and interviews with, Democratic over Republican presidential candidates, avoided placing liberal labels on Democrats and also pushed candidates of both parties from the left: “Of the substantive questions that could be categorized as reflecting a political agenda, more than two-thirds (69%) of the questions to Democrats reflected a liberal premise, and more than four-fifths (82%) of the questions to Republicans came from the same perspective.”

In Texas we recently passed a law, that is due to take effect on September 1, that allows school children to express their religious beliefs. It’s a shame we had to pass a law to dictate what should have been common sense. It appears that Pennsylvania could use a similar law.

A court decision that opens the doors of Culbertson Elementary School in Pennsylvania to books about witches – but rejects the Bible as being too “proselytizing” – is being challenged.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund has submitted amicus briefs in a lawsuit filed when a kindergarten student, under an assignment in which parents were invited to read their child’s favorite book, was denied permission to have his mother read a Bible story.

A decision in U.S. District Court that sided with the school’s decision to ban the Bible reading, while allowing teachers to suggest reading books about “witches and Halloween,” effectively “sounds the death knell for religious freedom in public schools,” the ADF argues.

“By transmuting private religious speech into government speech, granting school officials carte blanche authority to determine what religious speech is ‘too religious,’ and holding that a school’s desire to avoid a perceived Establishment Clause violation justifies viewpoint discrimination, the lower court’s opinion permits a blatant violation of the Constitution,” the group said.

“The school’s decision to ban religious speech is nothing more than blatant viewpoint discrimination,” said ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “This was not about proselytizing anyone,” continued ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “It was about letting students tell the class about what things are important to them, and the Bible is important to this student.”

The brief noted that the school allowed discussion of religion in the “All About Me” assignment. “Because Wesley liked to go to church, he created a poster that included a picture of a church with the words, ‘I like to go to church’ below it. This poster was displayed on the wall.”

But the Bible reading Wesley requested was rejected because the Bible promotes “a specific religious point of view” and the teacher instead suggested Wesley’s mother “read a book ‘about witches and Halloween’ instead.”

The effort this country is going to in order to commit suicide in the name of “political correctness” is ridiculous. It just keeps getting worse.

(CNSNews.com) – A conflict of interest involving the radical Nation of Islam and the Washington, D.C., affiliate of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) is an example of unethical journalism that benefits extremist Muslims, according to a national security expert and a Hollywood filmmaker.

Martyn Burke, director of documentary films at ABG Films, and Frank Gaffney, president of the conservative Center for Security Policy, produced a documentary for a PBS series – “America at a Crossroads” – that focused on Muslims in America, Europe, and Canada who speak out against Islamist extremists.

Their documentary, “Islam versus Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center,” was, after a protracted battle, rejected in April by WETA, the PBS affiliate in Washington, D.C.

The film is going to air on an Oregon PBS affiliate this month, and some other affiliates may run it as well. However, it is now known that PBS had an unedited version of the film reviewed by the radical Nation of Islam prior to PBS’s decision to cancel the documentary.

The Nation of Islam (NOI) and its long-time leader Rev. Louis Farrakhan have a history of espousing racism and anti-Semitism. Farrakhan stepped down as NOI’s leader in 2006 for health reasons.

PBS’s decision to pass the film to NOI for review was a serious “breach of journalistic ethics,” said Burke.

“Is there anyone who understands that no functioning journalist – or network, or publication can ever allow this kind of outrageous action?” Burke wrote in an e-mail to PBS officials.

“This utterly undermines any journalistic independence. … It virtually hands the story to the subject and allows them to become an active party in shaping it. That is advertising, not journalism. Is that not obvious?” he added.

Australian artists feared for their lives when Christians, after Wednesday night choir practice, took to the streets, burning cars and smashing windows in protest over their deeply blasphemous artwork.
Investigators are attempting to determine why the cars and windows were held responsible for the artist’s work.
The blasphemous art, a status of the Virgin Mary wearing a burqa and a photo of Jesus that changes into Osama bin Laden, were entries into the Blake Prize for religious art.
The rioting Christians…oh wait a minute…Actually, no Christians rioted at all. As a matter of fact, there was actually little response to the blasphemous “art”.
You see, Christians don’t respond to affronts to God by rioting and killing people. Can you think of a group that does respond that way every time they even slightly suspect that their “god”, “prophet” or “holy book” is desecrated? I’ll give you hint: it starts with the letter “Islam”.

The head of Australia’s Islamic Council believes a statue of the Virgin Mary shrouded in a burqa is not offensive, because it shows a key female figure of Islam in the modest fashion required of all Muslim women.

Prime Minister John Howard yesterday described as “gratuitously offensive” the statue and another artwork depicting a holographic image of Osama bin Laden that morphed into an image of Jesus Christ.

The artworks were entries into the Blake Prize for religious art.

But Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ikebal Patel said the statue was “not at all offensive”, because both the Virgin Mary and Jesus were revered figures in Islam. “So [Mary wearing a burqa is] no different to how our mothers and sisters are expected to be modest in their dressing,” he said.

But Mr Patel said he was affronted by the image of bin Laden’s face blending into that of Jesus, who is deemed a prophet in Islam. “You have a revered prophet of Islam being equated to somebody like Osama bin Laden. “Also in Islam, we don’t have any paintings or drawings depicting any of our prophets, so I find it quite offensive.”

The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, said: “As a person of faith and religious background I think it’s important to reflect on the icons of our faiths. Unfortunately, some contemporary art is tedious and trivial. These couple of works demonstrate this. Regrettably, attempts to insult Jesus and Mary have become common in recent years, even predictable. Too often it seems that the only quality which makes something art is the adolescent desire to shock. If this is the best the Blake Prize can do, it has probably outlived its usefulness.”

Did you happen to notice how the article was written. The so-called “unbiased” press started the article by quoting what a Muslim thought about art that is offensive to Christians. It wasn’t until the end that we actually learn what Christians think about the affront to our religious figures. Christians are insulted, so what does the press do? It runs out and interviews a Muslim. What kind of logic is that??

08.30.07

I grew up in a house with teachers. I know that they never really liked having an association with the NEA.

Confidential strategy directives from the National Education Association urge the union’s field representatives involved in the collective bargaining process to “attack the chief school administrator” and “mislead” their own members.

NEA Block the BossOne strategy the NEA calls “Block the boss” calls on field reps to “Attack the chief school administrator. Charge him with poor mismanagement, poor working conditions and rotten personnel relations.” The objective is to remove the school’s chief from the bargaining process, giving the field rep “a clear shot at the [school] Board.” (Click here for an enlarged view of the image to the left.)

The directives urge NEA field reps to “mislead” their own membership during the collective bargaining process, the purpose being to “begin the process of dissatisfaction” — and to “continue to mislead” the member teachers “to start to personalize the conflict in the negotiations.”

There are three religions who hold Temple Mount in Jerusalem as being sacred. The Jews, who had it first, the Christians and the Muslims. Of all these groups, the group with the most tenuous doctrinal reference to it is the Muslims.
All throughout the Old and New Testaments, numerous references to the temple are mentioned. This lends a great amount of credence to claims of ownership.
In Islam, Jerusalem is never mentioned. The temple in Jerusalem is never mentioned. There is a passage that tells of Mohammad having a dream where he is taken to the “furthest mosque”. Islam believes this to mean Jerusalem. Pretty shaky if you ask me.
Even after Israel took Jerusalem after the war in 1967, they allowed the Islamist to retain control of it.
Since that time, the Islamist have refused to allow any other religion to pray or worship there, even though both Jews and Christians have a much better claim to the area then the Muslims do. The Islamist have done massive construction work with no regard to the archaeological destruction they are causing.
I have noted on this blog before that I feel that the Islamist are doing everything possible to destroy any trace of the Jewish and Christian roots in the Mount.
Both the Torah and Bible teach that someday, God will restore the Temple. But until then, the Muslim desecration and destruction of Temple Mount continues.

Israeli archaeologists said on Wednesday they fear priceless relics could be damaged by a mechanical digger being used by Muslim caretakers to carve out a utility trench at one of Jerusalem’s holiest shrines.

The work is being carried out on the plaza revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and by Jews as the Temple Mount.

“It is appalling that in one of the most important archaeological sites in the country, heavy machinery is used in a barbaric way to dig a ditch 120 meters long and 1.5 meters deep,” said Gabriel Barkay, an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.

He and other members of the Israeli-based Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, have criticized Israel’s Antiquities Authority for allowing the Waqf, the Muslim caretakers of the site, to conduct the work.

Dalit Menzin, a spokeswoman for the Antiquities Authority, an Israeli government agency, declined to comment.

Sheikh Abdel al-Azeem Salhab, president of the Waqf Council, which is charged with day-to-day administration of the compound, denied the digging would cause any archaeological damage.

Barkay said earth from the trench contained pottery shards dating to the Byzantine period. He cautioned that more relics still underground could be harmed.

The site is in East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move that is not recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In Febuary, an Israeli dig intended to salvage ancient artifacts before construction of a new walkway leading to the holy complex sparked worldwide protests by Muslims who said they feared the two mosques would be damaged.

Israel’s Jerusalem municipality denied any harm would come to the shrines but scrapped its original construction plan and ordered a committee to prepare new blueprints and hold public hearings on the project.

I heard about this new website and was impressed by what I saw. Take a moment and browse the information they have.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is a non-profit research group founded by Steven Emerson in 1995. It is recognized as the world’s most comprehensive data center on radical Islamic terrorist groups. For more than a decade, the IPT has investigated the operations, funding, activities and front groups of Islamic terrorist and extremist groups in the United States and around the world. It has become a principal source of critical evidence to a wide variety of government offices and law enforcement agencies, as well as the U.S. Congress and numerous public policy forums. Research carried out by the IPT team has formed the basis for thousands of articles and television specials on the subject of radical Islamic involvement in terrorism, and has even led to successful government action against terrorists and financiers based in the United States.

It is unbelievable that this is the norm in China. These women need our prayers.

Yang Zhongchen, a small-town businessman, wined and dined three government officials for permission to become a father.

But the Peking duck and liquor weren’t enough. One night, a couple of weeks before her date for giving birth, Yang’s wife was dragged from her bed in a north China town and taken to a clinic, where, she says, her baby was killed by injection while still inside her.

“Several people held me down, they ripped my clothes aside and the doctor pushed a large syringe into my stomach,” says Jin Yani, a shy, petite woman with a long ponytail. “It was very painful.. It was all very rough.”

Some 30 years after China decreed a general limit of one child per family, resentment still brews over the state’s regular and sometimes brutal intrusion into intimate family matters. Not only are many second pregnancies aborted, but even to have one’s first child requires a license.

Seven years after the dead baby was pulled from her body with forceps, Jin remains traumatized and, the couple and a doctor say, unable to bear children. Yang and Jin have made the rounds of government offices pleading for restitution – to no avail.

This year, they took the unusual step of suing the family planning agency in court. The judges ruled against them, saying Yang and Jin conceived out of wedlock. Local family planning officials said Jin consented to the abortion. The couple’s appeal to a higher court is pending.

The one-child policy applies to most families in this nation of 1.3 billion people, and communist officials, often under pressure to meet birth quotas set by the government, can be coldly intolerant of violators.

But in the new China, economically powerful and more open to outside influences, ordinary citizens such as Yang and Jin increasingly are speaking out. Aiding them are social campaigners and lawyers who have documented cases of forced abortions in the seventh, eighth or ninth month.

For I will take you out of the nations: I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. Ezekiel 36:24

One-hundred-seventy-four people from a group of thousands in India that believes it is one of the 10 “lost tribes” of Israel landed here this week, fulfilling for many a life-long dream of returning to what they consider their homeland.

Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization led by American Michael Freund, hopes to bring to the Jewish state the remaining 7,000 Indian citizens who believe they are the Bnei Menashe, the descendants of Manasseh, one of biblical patriarch Joseph’s two sons and a grandson of Jacob.

The tribe lives in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, to which they claim to have been exiled from Israel more than 2,700 years ago by the Assyrian empire.

“I truly believe this is a miracle of immense historical and even biblical significance,” Freund told WND as the group of 174 arrived here earlier this week.

“Just as the prophets foretold so long ago, the lost tribes of Israel are being brought back from the exile,” said Freund, who previously served as deputy communications director under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Another planeload of 57 Bnei Menashe is slated to touch down in Israel tomorrow.

The group, which has preserved ancient Jewish customs and rituals, has been trying the past 50 years to return to Israel.

08.29.07

In an all too common “modus-operandi”, the infanticide providers at Planned Parenthood have turned to lying to city officials in order to get their clinics put in place. Recently in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Planned Parenthood concealed its ownership of a huge new abortion facility, but only identified itself as the “Gemini Office Development” with no mention of Planned Parenthood or what the building was to be used for.

Planned Parenthood concealed its ownership of a huge new abortion facility scheduled to open soon in a Chicago suburb, and pro-life advocates – and at least one city official – are questioning whether the abortion provider can mislead officials without repercussions.

“There’s always legal ramifications,” Aurora, Ill., Alderman Richard Irvin told the Chicago Tribune while standing with some of the estimated 1,200 pro-life protesters who assembled over the weekend to protest the existence of the structure that had been depicted by owners as an office building.

He was not on the board when the project, proposed by a company identifying itself as “Gemini Office Development,” was approved. But he said he has concerns the building was brought into his city under false pretenses, and said the city could sue Planned Parenthood for being deceptive.

There was no acknowledgement during the permit application and construction processes that the project actually was scheduled to be an abortion business. However, as WND columnist Jill Stanek reported, a pro-life construction worker on the 22,000-square foot site became suspicious of the bulletproof glass and surgical suites, components not routine in an office building.

“At a minimum, the city of Aurora should launch an official and legal investigation, questioning the applicant and tenant under oath about statements on applications and in meetings,” she said. “If the city does not, is something more going on, a cover-up? Did some officials know that the public documents filed and statements made by the applicant were false? Did some officials know the tenant was to be an abortion provider, but then conspired with Gemini to keep it quiet to avoid politically unfavorable publicity?”

Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, said the deception probably was the result of two issues: the fact that a Planned Parenthood clinic’s construction in Austin, Texas, earlier was delayed for months when local contractors refused to work on the project, and the general atmosphere that accompanies abortion businesses.

“What do you get when you get an abortion facility? Not only do you get dead children, the blight and underworld that comes along with that, but you also get thousands upon thousands of pro-lifers who adorn the streets with pictures of aborted children,” he told WND. “I don’t think either is good for a community.”

The tactic, however, is not isolated to the Illinois location. Newman said the same scenario developed with Denver, where Planned Parenthood recently purchased a building without announcing its presence.

“The bottom line is nobody wants an abortion facility in their community. It’s kind of like a toxic waste dump,” he said.

Cheryl Sullenger, also of Operation Rescue, said community residents have legitimate concerns when a Planned Parenthood facility announces it is moving in.

“They’re concerned about their children, what their children are going to be taught as far as sex education. They don’t want their daughters getting abortions without their knowledge, and in some states Planned Parenthood is famous for promoting that. When Planned Parenthood comes to town, the community is going to have something to say about it,” she said.

This is something that should have been happening anyway. It should be prevalent in all cities and states and should not have to be “ordered”.

An immigration reform organization is not surprised that law enforcement officers in New Jersey are being ordered to notify federal immigration authorities whenever they arrest suspects who are determined to be illegal aliens.
Hear this Report

The mandate, issued by the state attorney general, follows a review prompted by the brutal slayings of three Newark college students. Two of the suspects in the case are illegal aliens. One of them, Jose Carranza from Peru, had been granted bail for child rape and aggravated assault charges without immigration officials being alerted about his existence.

John Keeley, a spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, says Newark is suffering from unwise decisions made by its civic leaders. “Once again a criminal alien was let go for political reasons — and now that Newark is the spotlight, their political leadership is paying a price for their political correctness … and it’s had tragic results there and [is] now a national story,” he says.

I try not to air “doctrinal” differences between denominations too often on this blog, since I believe that in most cases, Christians should stick together and not allow these differences to tear us apart and detract us from our mission of spreading the Good News of Salvation Through Jesus Christ.
Sometimes though, when a high profile member of a fellowship says or does something which is in complete contention to what is written in the Bible, I find it necessary to draw attention to this.
With that said, I would like to re-publish a post from Michael Micky’s Rapture Alert Blog.

Mary Seated On The Throne…Again

by Michael G. Mickey
(8-26-07)

On August 15th, Pope Benedict XVI, in celebrating Catholicism’s Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, quoted Pope Pius XII, particularly the following (emphasis added mine):

“Hence, the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of Heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendour at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages.”

Pope Benedict XVI added, in his own words, the following: “May the example and prayers of Mary, Queen of Heaven, inspire and sustain us on our pilgrimage of faith, that we too may attain the glory of the Resurrection and the fulfilment of our hope in her Son’s promises.”

A Wikipedia article demonstrates that both Pope Pius XII (in 1935) and Pope John Paul II (in 1985) referred to Mary as a “co-redeemer” of mankind with Christ, our Savior. As a result, many today incorrectly believe that praying to Mary is beneficial as she, acting in her alleged role as the “Queen of Heaven”, provides intercession between mankind and Christ on behalf of those who pray to her. This, as those closest to me will immediately recognize, is what I like to refer to as “a bunch of hooey!”

Mary was a fine woman, yes! Is Mary seated at the right hand of the Father and Son? Decidedly not!

If Mary was to be a co-redeemer of mankind, wouldn’t Christ have acknowledged her future role during His ministry? Of course He would’ve, but let’s be certain that He didn’t!

Jesus is preaching in the synagogue when we see, as recorded in Mark 3:31-35, the following occur:

31. There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

32. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

33. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

34. And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

35. For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

If Mary, whom I’m certain was and is yet greatly loved by Christ, was to serve in a capacity that it would somehow be beneficial for mankind to call out her name in prayer, He would’ve exalted her greatly and directed us to do the same! Because He didn’t, we shouldn’t!

1st Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

It has been said–and I agree–that it is the better part of wisdom to both understand views with which one strongly disagrees and to support the right of one’s political opponents to speak freely. However, these noble sentiments are not exactly useful when one’s opponent is a gargantuan liar and engages in evil.

Still, I mourn the loss of civilized dialogue among presumably civilized people who no longer exchange views but only insults masquerading as views for which they are applauded, lauded and often well-paid.Everyone’s mind remains firmly closed. Dialogue is increasingly impossible among people who will only talk to those who agree with them 100% on each and every issue.

In the West, Talking Heads are meant to destroy their opponents, not to communicate with them. Civilized audiences consider this entertainment much as our ancestors once experienced public hangings or lynchings–indeed, as many non-Western Islamist mobs still do today.

However, I do not favor denial and naiveté. Those are dangerous virtues today. Thus, anyone who continues to read the mainstream media (which I do) or to watch CNN (which I also do) because they believe it will inform them in an unbiased way is choosing to be misinformed and electing to have their most vulgar prejudices confirmed. CNN dropped all pretense to objectivity, accuracy, and fairness when they aired (and kept airing) the Gospels According to Christiane.

CNN is a Nazi-like channel, which glamorizes fascism. CNN truly stands for Central Nazi Network just as NPR stands for National Palestinian Radio. I have been saying this for a long while and sometimes it evokes laughter, but it often provokes great anger among True Believers who feel these networks deliver naught but the Gospel truth.

Now is the time for investors and visionaries to fund at least one new major channel dedicated to the principal that…Saudi funding is unacceptable.

Dump that money into the Boston Harbor.

We in the West are paying for our own destruction when we buy Saudi oil and when we fund Saudi Arabia militarily. (I know, I know, the matter is very complex). But here is something that is not complex. We are also paving the way for the Islamification of America when we allow Islamist capitalists to buy up our airwaves for the purpose of indoctrinating us.

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Dr. Phyllis Chesler is the well known author of classic works, including the bestseller Women and Madness (1972) and The New Anti-Semitism (2003). She has just published The Death of Feminism: What’s Next in the Struggle for Women’s Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan), as well as an updated and revised edition of Women and Madness. She is an Emerita Professor of psychology and women’s studies, the co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology (1969) and the National Women’s Health Network (1974). She is currently on the Board of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and lives in New York City. Her website is www.phyllis-chesler.com.
We are delighted to have Dr. Chesler as a new contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

08.28.07

Defending Islamic terrorist while demonizing Christians is all the rage these days. I’m guessing that the criticism levied at Amanpour was more for rating purposes than any other reason, but it is appreciated none the less.

On Monday’s MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams, host and MSNBC General Manager Abrams attacked CNN’s series God’s Warriors for “a defense of Islamic fundamentalism and the worst type of moral relativism,” and as “shameful advocacy masked as journalism,” quipping that series host Christiane Amanpour “avoided getting bogged down in objectivity.” Abrams further took exception with Amanpour for comparing those who support Israel’s defense strategy to Muslim terrorists: “Christians and Jews, for example, who support Israel’s strategy for self-defense are just as much God’s warriors, according to Amanpour, as the Islamic radicals who blow themselves and others up in an effort to destroy the world as we know it.”

After contending that Amanpour attempted to “understand” violent Muslim fundamentalists without trying to “understand” evangelical Christians and Israelis, Abrams played a clip of Amanpour in which she “blames the warrior Jews” for the anger of radical Muslims. Amanpour: “Muslims, like people everywhere, abhor terrorism. The small minority who resorts to violence is symptomatic of something many of us have failed to understand: the impact of God’s Jewish warriors goes far beyond these rocky hills. The Jewish settlements have inflamed much of the Muslim world.”

Abrams soon brought aboard Muslim author Asma Hasan, Air America host Reverend Wilton Gaddy, and terrorism analyst Steve Emerson for a discussion of the topic, during which Emerson labeled the CNN series as “the most unfair series” and “the most dishonest series on television that I’ve seen in my 20 years of reporting or covering terrorism.” Emerson further criticized Amanpour for not showing examples of violent Muslim extremists in Europe such as the Madrid and London bombings, and for portraying Jews and Christians as “demons.” Emerson: “I thought that, in part, the actual dogma of this series actually focused mainly on Jews and Christians as being the demons, and in fact, one could accuse her of actually engaging in anti-Christian and anti-Semitic behavior by the selection of facts she chose to choose.”

Abrams showed a clip of Amanpour speaking to Christian youth leader Ron Luce of Teen Mania Ministries during which she contended that campus rules prohibiting female students from wearing short skirts and prohibiting male students from using the Internet without supervision reminded her of “totalitarian regimes,” and compared the female dress code to what the Taliban did. Amanpour: “But that’s what the Taliban said. They kept women in their house because men couldn’t be trusted around them.”

I believe America is the only country in the world who will risk safety to be known as ‘tolerant’. We know how the Muslims train their children to hate (kill) Jews and Christians. We see their preschool age children on the news toting assault rifles and chanting about their hate of the West. Yet, in an effort to be tolerant of Islam we not only ALLOW an Islamic school to be formed in New York we also FUND it with PUBLIC MONEY! I have to say that is one of the most idiotic things I have heard in a while. I would love to say that I am speechless, but nothing surprises me in America these days.

A Christian legal group will represent citizens opposed to the planned launch of a publicly funded academy in New York City where students will be immersed in Islamic culture.

Khalil Gibran International Academy features several Islamist imams on its board of advisers, as well as other promoters with connections to militant Islamic groups, according to the Thomas More Law Center.

“This proposed public school is nothing more than an incubator for the radicalization that leads to terrorism, as an NYPD Intelligence Report warned Americans just two weeks ago,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for legal group.

“Rather than use the public school system to assimilate Muslims and other immigrants into American culture, New York City is doing everything it can to keep them isolated – a target rich environment for recruiting potential new homegrown terrorists and a recipe for a future 9/11 disaster, according to my read of the NYPD Report,” he said.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has told the state Supreme Court the term “marriage” can be terminated, because registered “domestic partners” already have all of the same legal rights, benefits, duties and obligations as married couples.

The warning comes from Vote Yes Marriage.com, an organization promoting a state constitutional amendment that would restrict marriage – and its benefits and obligations – to a man and a woman.

Schwarzenegger, as well as Attorney General Jerry Brown, recently submitted briefs to the state Supreme Court, which is considering a lawsuit that could result in “marriage” being granted to same-sex duos.

Brown, former governor of California and mayor of Oakland, unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president three times.

As part of its deliberations, the court asked for the response from the attorney general and governor on the impact the decision could have on the state.

Randy Thomasson, spokesman for the marriage campaign, told WND the constitutional amendment is critical, because “by this time next year there’s going to be homosexual marriages occurring all over California.”

The Taliban agreed Tuesday to free 19 South Korean church volunteers held hostage since July after the government in Seoul agreed to end all missionary work and keep a promise to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
In eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber attacked NATO troops helping build a bridge, killing three soldiers.

The Taliban originally seized 23 South Koreans, but have since killed two of the hostages and released two others. They had initially demanded the withdrawal of South Korean troops from the country and the release of prisoners in exchange for freeing the hostages.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said South Korean and Taliban delegates at face-to-face talks Tuesday in the central town of Ghazni had “reached an agreement” to free the captives.

South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-sun said the deal had been reached “on the condition that South Korea withdraws troops by the end of year and South Korea suspends missionary work in Afghanistan,” he said.

This is distressing news, but not the least bit surprising based on other actions from the current administration of Israel.

JERUSALEM – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Egyptian government the Jewish state is willing to forfeit control over the Temple Mount – Judaism’s holiest site – to the management of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, according to an Arab media report.

The Egyptian Al Massrioun daily reported this weekend Barak informed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Jordanian government Israel is be willing to hand them joint control over the Temple Mount.

The report follows a WND exclusive article last week stating Palestinian negotiators drafting an agreement behind the scenes with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office made clear they will not accept any final peace deal with Israel unless the Jewish state forfeits the Temple Mount.